郭兆林：有興趣的事，就要一直追下去
【聯合報╱記者陳皓嬿／台北報導】
2014.04.03 03:29 am
「你是什麼樣的人？不是由你的能力定義，而是由你的選擇。」觀測到重力波印記的科學家、史丹佛大學助理教授郭兆林昨在台大演講時，引用了這句「看似出自卡謬之口，但實際上是小說哈利波特中校長鄧不利多的名言」作為結尾。郭兆林笑說，過去當學生時，自己成績不是最好、發表論文不是最多，考試要求一小時內作答，讓他覺得很難、很緊張，電磁學還只考六十分，但是觀念學得很清楚。當同學高中時就跳級先念大學的書、大學念研究所的書，郭兆林並沒有跟著跳級、提早學習，只是把當下學的概念想清楚，便去學其他自己有興趣的東西。
興趣廣泛的郭兆林除小時就對宇宙感興趣外，也喜歡研究機械、做化學實驗，還曾引發爆炸。這次能探測到重力波印記，也是因他一頭栽入「做了三年還賺不到錢」的電機領域—研發靈敏度極高的偵測器，「我把所有想做的事全加在一塊，去研究宇宙，不能再更好了！」
郭兆林認為，自己有興趣的事情就要一直追下去，不是先想著要成功，才想要往哪裡走。
另一方面，郭兆林提到，台灣許多念科學的人並不了解「口語能力」的重要性，大家以為智力測驗分數越高，以後就越有成就，「那我們就用智力測驗來選諾貝爾獎就好啦？」他認為作為知識分子，怎麼把想要做的事情告訴別人？能不能告訴大家自己在做些什麼？這很重要。
郭兆林在問答時間中，也展現非常科學家的一面，他告訴學生研究問題時，要相信理智會戰勝一切，因為答案只有一個，只要用力找、就會找到。最後也不忘提醒大家：「請繼續支持科學研究！」
********
The following is a news story about Kuo, Chao-lin in English.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id
Kuo Chao-lin, Taiwan's master of the universe
Taiwanese physicist Kuo Chao-lin may have contributed to one of the greatest scientific discoveries regarding the origins of the universe, but to his wife he is just a "sleep-loving scientist" whose work is his passion.
My comments: Passion is the magnet that attracts one to what he/she loves to do.
The 41-year-old, also named in English-language media as Chao-Lin Kuo, is a key member of a US research team that announced on March 17 that it had discovered the first direct evidence of how the universe rapidly expanded less than a trillionth of a second after the big bang.
"This is really exciting. We have made the first direct image of gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time across the primordial sky, and verified a theory about the creation of the whole universe," said Kuo, the only non-American and the most junior researcher of the team of four.
"We've found the smoking gun evidence for inflation and we've also produced the first image of gravitational waves across the sky," he added.
Wu Chun-hui, a physics professor at National Taiwan University in Taipei who was in the year above Kuo when they both studied at the university, believes the credit for the discovery should be attributed largely to Kuo, who invented the telescope — the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 (BICEP2) detector — that allowed scientists to analyze the polarization of light left over from the early universe.
My comments: To analyze the polarization of light left over from the early universe? So intriguing!
A discovery like this is the holy grail of the astronomical community and could land Kuo the Nobel prize in the future, Wu said, adding that neither he nor Kuo were considered "good students" back in the day as they were both actively involved in student protests.
My comments: Those who find their passion just cannot stop doing what they love to.
Kuo's wife, Chou Nien-ying, who is currently in Taiwan, told reporters she met him when they were studying their bachelor's degrees at National Taiwan University. They married after Kuo finished his compulsory military service and moved to the United States, where he completed his PhD at at the University of California, Berkeley.
After earning his doctorate in 2008, Kuo was offered a teaching position at Harvard but ended up choosing Stanford because of its stronger reputation for astronomy.
Chou said Kuo last visited Taiwan for Chinese New Year in January before returning to the US in February. Her husband is scheduled to fly back to Taiwan in April to attend his alma mater as a visiting scholar until the end of June, when the whole family will all go back to the United States together, she said.
Chou describes her husband as a good man, a sincere and honest person who takes his work seriously and is well-liked by everyone in his field. While most scientists have a reputation for working long hours into the night, Kuo never misses out on his sleep, she said, though to his credit he also does a lot more housework than the average husband.
Together they have two children, a five-year-old and a one-year-old. Kuo often helps bathe the kids and change their nappies in addition to many other household chores, Chou said.
References:
Kuo Chao-lin 郭兆林
Wu Chun-hui 吳俊輝
Chou Nien-ying 周念縈
興趣廣泛的郭兆林除小時就對宇宙感興趣外，也喜歡研究機械、做化學實驗，還曾引發爆炸。這次能探測到重力波印記，也是因他一頭栽入「做了三年還賺不到錢」的電機領域—研發靈敏度極高的偵測器，「我把所有想做的事全加在一塊，去研究宇宙，不能再更好了！」
郭兆林認為，自己有興趣的事情就要一直追下去，不是先想著要成功，才想要往哪裡走。
另一方面，郭兆林提到，台灣許多念科學的人並不了解「口語能力」的重要性，大家以為智力測驗分數越高，以後就越有成就，「那我們就用智力測驗來選諾貝爾獎就好啦？」他認為作為知識分子，怎麼把想要做的事情告訴別人？能不能告訴大家自己在做些什麼？這很重要。
郭兆林在問答時間中，也展現非常科學家的一面，他告訴學生研究問題時，要相信理智會戰勝一切，因為答案只有一個，只要用力找、就會找到。最後也不忘提醒大家：「請繼續支持科學研究！」
********
The following is a news story about Kuo, Chao-lin in English.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id
Kuo Chao-lin, Taiwan's master of the universe
- Staff Reporter 2014-03-20 11:41 (GMT+8)
Taiwanese physicist Kuo Chao-lin may have contributed to one of the greatest scientific discoveries regarding the origins of the universe, but to his wife he is just a "sleep-loving scientist" whose work is his passion.
My comments: Passion is the magnet that attracts one to what he/she loves to do.
The 41-year-old, also named in English-language media as Chao-Lin Kuo, is a key member of a US research team that announced on March 17 that it had discovered the first direct evidence of how the universe rapidly expanded less than a trillionth of a second after the big bang.
"This is really exciting. We have made the first direct image of gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time across the primordial sky, and verified a theory about the creation of the whole universe," said Kuo, the only non-American and the most junior researcher of the team of four.
"We've found the smoking gun evidence for inflation and we've also produced the first image of gravitational waves across the sky," he added.
Wu Chun-hui, a physics professor at National Taiwan University in Taipei who was in the year above Kuo when they both studied at the university, believes the credit for the discovery should be attributed largely to Kuo, who invented the telescope — the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 (BICEP2) detector — that allowed scientists to analyze the polarization of light left over from the early universe.
My comments: To analyze the polarization of light left over from the early universe? So intriguing!
A discovery like this is the holy grail of the astronomical community and could land Kuo the Nobel prize in the future, Wu said, adding that neither he nor Kuo were considered "good students" back in the day as they were both actively involved in student protests.
My comments: Those who find their passion just cannot stop doing what they love to.
Kuo's wife, Chou Nien-ying, who is currently in Taiwan, told reporters she met him when they were studying their bachelor's degrees at National Taiwan University. They married after Kuo finished his compulsory military service and moved to the United States, where he completed his PhD at at the University of California, Berkeley.
After earning his doctorate in 2008, Kuo was offered a teaching position at Harvard but ended up choosing Stanford because of its stronger reputation for astronomy.
Chou said Kuo last visited Taiwan for Chinese New Year in January before returning to the US in February. Her husband is scheduled to fly back to Taiwan in April to attend his alma mater as a visiting scholar until the end of June, when the whole family will all go back to the United States together, she said.
Chou describes her husband as a good man, a sincere and honest person who takes his work seriously and is well-liked by everyone in his field. While most scientists have a reputation for working long hours into the night, Kuo never misses out on his sleep, she said, though to his credit he also does a lot more housework than the average husband.
Together they have two children, a five-year-old and a one-year-old. Kuo often helps bathe the kids and change their nappies in addition to many other household chores, Chou said.
References:
Kuo Chao-lin 郭兆林
Wu Chun-hui 吳俊輝
Chou Nien-ying 周念縈
沒有留言:
張貼留言